Good For You? Bad For You? Dr. Holly Phillips Addresses Myth And Reality

Nothing like the smell of coffee to start off the day!

With so many studies out there about coffee, it's hard to remember whether our morning cup of Joe does the body any good -- or harm.

On The Early Show Monday, Dr. Holly Phillips of CBS station WCBS-TV in New York went through some commonly-circulated beliefs about the health effects of one of the nation's most popular beverages.

IS COFFEE GOOD FOR YOU?

Well, I would have to say, all things in moderation. There do definitely seem to be some health benefits. The more we're learning, research is leaning on the side of it being good for you. It lowers the risk of Parkinson's disease and Type 2 diabetes. It mediates depression. But the benefits are dose-related.

SHOULD CHILDREN BE DRINKING COFFEE?

It's better to limit their caffeine intake. They'll get caffeine in other things -- chocolate, sodas, but particularly in kids, it's linked to attention problems and hyperactivity, so it's better to avoid it.

COFFEE IS DEHYDRATING. TRUE OR FALSE?

It depends on the dose. We think of coffee as a diuretic. But recent studies have shown it's only a diuretic at high doses -- above 575 milligrams. Have some water if you exceed that amount.

HOW MUCH IS THAT?

575 milligrams is a little less than three cups of coffee, but that's three regular size cups. But we have to remember the cups we have nowadays are big cups. So, it's easy to have more than 575 milligrams.

COFFEE INCREASES HYPERTENSION. TRUE OR FALSE?

Coffee does increase your blood pressure, but only for a few minutes. What's interesting is that recent studies show it doesn't increase your likelihood of getting hypertension. I would caution that anyone who has high blood pressure that's not under control should avoid caffeine.

COFFEE HELPS WEIGHT LOSS

Unfortunately, this doesn't work. Caffeine does speed up your metabolism for awhile but, in long-term studies, people who drank coffee had no better weight control than people who didn't.

DOES COFFEE ACCELERATE BONE LOSS?

This one is a little controversial. It doesn't make our body lose more calcium or lose calcium from the bones, but some studies have shown coffee drinkers do have more brittle bones. I suggest all of my patients, especially women, supplement with a calcium supplement or, if you're going to have a great deal of coffee, make sure you put some milk in your coffee.

咖啡有益人體？有損于人體？Holly Phillips博士討論有關咖啡之謎與事實

沒有什么比咖啡的味道開始一天更美好的了!

關于咖啡的研究已經非常之多,很難知道早上一杯咖啡對我們的身體是有益還是有害。

周一的早間秀節目中，紐約WCBS-TV CBS電視臺的Holly Phillips博士詳細討論了的有關國內最流行飲料之健康影響的最流行觀點。

咖啡對你好嗎？

喔，我要說，任何東西都要適量。咖啡確實有一定好處。我們現在獲悉更多的是研究在對身體好的這一面。咖啡可降低帕金森綜合癥和2型糖尿病的危險。它也可減緩憂郁癥。不過這種好處都與劑量有關。

小孩可喝咖啡嗎？

最好還是控制小孩的咖啡因攝入量。他們還會從其它東西中攝取咖啡因，如巧克力、蘇打，但特別對小孩子來說，咖啡因與注意力不集中問題及小兒多動癥有關，所以最好還是不要讓小孩喝咖啡。

咖啡是脫水的，是不是真的？

這取決于攝入量。我們認為咖啡是利尿劑。但最近的研究表明劑量過大時就不是利尿劑了，這個限度就是575毫克。如果每天攝取量超過這個量，就要多喝水。

這個量是多少？

575毫克就是少于三杯咖啡的量，不過是指三常規杯大小。但我們得知道，現在的杯子都是大杯了。因此，很容易就每天攝入超過575毫克。

咖啡會增加高血壓的風險嗎？

咖啡確實會使血壓升高，但只是幾分鐘的事情。有趣的是最近的研究表明咖啡并不會增加得高血壓的可能。但我還是要提醒大家，有高血壓不能得到控制的人還是要避免咖啡因的攝入。

咖啡有助減肥

遺憾，并無此功效。咖啡因確實可以加速新陳代謝一小會，但長期研究的結果表明，喝咖啡的人并不比不喝的人更能控制體重。

咖啡能加速骨骼流失嗎？

關于這一點略有爭議。咖啡并不會使得我們的身體流失鈣或者流失骨鈣，但一些研究表明喝咖啡的人確實更容易骨脆。我建議我所有的病人，尤其是婦女，通過鈣補充劑補充鈣。或者，如果你還會喝很多咖啡，一定要記得在咖啡中加一點牛奶。